I began to really listen to "The Roots" back in May when I heard that their new album, "How I Got Over", was coming out (now my favorite album). I'd only seen them while flipping through channels, across The Jimmy Fallon Show, and heard two or three songs from their '99 and '02 (or '01) album. This made me think,"Wow, the Roots are one of the best Hip Hop groups in the game", yet they get relatively little attention compared to the crap that the public/people my age (16) listen to. It was pretty refreshing to hear an R&B/Rap group actually playing acoustic instruments with thoughtful lyrics. There's no auto-tune, no synthesizer, no drum machine, and excellent lyrics not about money, sex, profitting off of drugs, or women. I mean who wants to hear an artist rap or sing about what they have and what you don't have? lol

But, what other good (somewhat current) Hip Hop and R&B bands are there? It seems really hard to find bands or groups in this genre of music since everything is just automated now.

Mos Def is great. I am not a super huge hip hop fan but here's some of the groups that I have always thought were undeniably good within the genre: Digable Planets, Pharcyde, Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Digital Underground, De La Soul, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, and of course the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. Anyway, all these groups have great songs, inventive lyrics, and of course infectious grooves.

The Roots are pretty hard to compare to though, they are pretty unique for what they do. ?uestlove is rock solid on the drums! He totally has a Bonham vibe that ? applies to hip-hop.

I know. ?uestlove doesn't seem to have a problem with hanging around one solid groove, but when he goes in for a fill, it completely fits the moment. But I've listened to a little Outkast/Andre 3000 in the past, just started listening to Mos Def. I completely forgot about The Neptunes, although they seem to do a little bit of everything.

Listened to the Fugees also, liked fu-gee-la and Killing me Softly so far. Still haven't found any group that matches The Roots, it's rare that I love 12 songs on a 14 song album.

Jill Scott, Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, Raphael Saadiq... There is always an element of electronic production on lots of these albums, but they really are mostly live musicians even in studio.

Jill Scott, Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, Raphael Saadiq... There is always an element of electronic production on lots of these albums, but they really are mostly live musicians even in studio.